Douglasville Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer

Nursing home abuse and neglect is one of America’s most underreported and undetected problems – and it is one that can have a severe emotional impact on the victim and their family members. According to estimates from the National Center on Elder Abuse, 10% of elderly Americans have suffered some form of abuse.

For residents and families in Georgia, the reports are even more disturbing. According to a story by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one in four nursing homes in the state received a one-star rating (the lowest possible) in the latest federal quality rankings of long-term care facilities in the U.S. With 27.6% of nursing homes receiving the one-star rating, Georgia ranked as the second-worst performing state (behind only Louisiana) in the Southeast.

The Douglasville personal injury lawyers at Sherrod & Bernard, P.C., have helped numerous clients hold corporate and locally owned nursing homes accountable for direct or indirect nursing home abuse and neglect. Our compassionate and aggressive nursing home abuse lawyers have helped secure compensation for the victims while helping change the conditions in nursing homes so that patterns of abuse stop immediately.

Learn more about spotting signs of nursing home abuse or neglect, what legal recourse victims have, and what our firm can do to assist families who are worried about their elderly loved one. If you need immediate help, phone our office or fill out an online contact form now.

What are the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?

There are many types of abuse, and it is often more difficult to spot signs of abuse in senior citizens than in children or younger adults. Signs of elder abuse are broken down into four categories: physical, mental, financial and sexual. Watch for the following:

Signs of Physical Abuse or Neglect

  • Bedsores or noticeable bruises appearing on your loved one’s body
  • Messy, unkempt appearance or foul smells, soiled clothing or bedding, or fecal matter or urine in their bedding and clothing
  • Dirty living quarters
  • Feeling ill or experiencing physical pain as a result of withheld or failure to administer medication
  • Visible malnutrition or dehydration

Signs of Mental Abuse and Emotional Abuse

  • Keeping your loved one from groups they normally frequent or activities they enjoy
  • Exposing your loved one to repeated discussions of death, which cause them to contemplate suicide
  • Constant verbal abuse, including name-calling and denigrating their place at the home
  • Prohibiting outgoing phone calls or mishandling outgoing mail to cut off ties with outside family

Signs of Sexual Abuse

  • Your loved one holds or “favors” their genitalia but is too afraid to talk
  • The senior citizen begins talking about sex more than usual but seems depressed when doing so
  • Your loved one experiences unexplained bleeding from the rectal area that is not related to hemorrhoids or other known medical issues
  • After questioning, your loved one admits to being touched inappropriately

Signs of Financial Abuse

  • Your loved one suddenly changes all or part of their will to benefit an unknown person or party
  • An unusual amount of money is transferred from your loved one’s account to a nonfamily member
  • The discovery of credit card applications or other loan forms signed by another party
  • Expensive items are reported missing from your loved one’s home

Exploitation and abuse of higher-risk adults in nursing home facilities are far too common in Georgia. While loved ones may try to deal with these abuse signs before it becomes widespread, some family members live far away and are unable to keep tabs on their loved ones in these facilities.

What is the Difference Between Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse?

Although both terms seem relatively similar, there’s a difference between elderly abuse and elderly neglect.

  • Nursing home abuse is the deliberate abuse of person, power, and trust. It’s taking away the liberties a resident has the right to enjoy by taking actions that are intended to hurt an individual.
  • Nursing home neglect is best described as deliberate or negligent failure to take action. Ignoring an individual’s physical and emotional needs leads to psychological and physical suffering.

Elopement, which is when any resident wanders away from their assisted living or nursing home facility, could indicate another form of gross negligence on the part of the facility.

How is Nursing Home Abuse Reported in Georgia?

You can report cases of nursing home abuse or neglect to Georgia’s Department of Human Services, Division of Aging Services, through their website or by telephone during regular business hours. If you’re reporting abuse or neglect of adult persons with disabilities who live in long-term facilities, the Department of Community Health will also take your reports.

If phone lines are not open, and you feel uncomfortable with online reporting, your local law enforcement agency will open an investigation, provided there’s enough evidence to back your claim. A police investigation is often enough to scare the facility into changing policies and removing “bad apples” from their employee group.

Loved ones are encouraged to retain an attorney who concentrates on nursing home neglect and abuse cases to start an independent investigation. Some families fear repercussions in reporting a nursing home facility, so Sherrod & Bernard, P.C., will do their part in keeping your information private.

 

How Our Douglasville Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys Can Help

Because numerous laws may come into play in nursing home abuse cases, our attorneys are uniquely positioned to handle all claims of nursing home neglect and abuse. We are prepared to go after the facility, their insurer, and any negligent third parties who may be responsible.

We’ll start by analyzing the details surrounding your case. There are many grounds on which we could establish your case, including:

  • The facility’s negligence in caring for the resident
  • The facility’s complicity in another’s theft of funds or property
  • Negligence in hiring improperly screened employees
  • Failing to provide adequate health care, despite being paid by residents to handle medical care
  • Failing to provide the appropriate staff training or hiring staff under false pretenses

We can look for residents and others who are willing to testify about any abuse they observed, and we may subpoena footage, talk with the abused or neglected resident, and discuss options with family members. Once we’ve compiled the required information, we are prepared to pursue negotiations and file your case in court if necessary.

At this point, the facility and their counsel will get involved. They may investigate these allegations internally, hire an outside investigative team, or do nothing. Nonetheless, our firm investigates each case thoroughly.

These are serious investigations with potential criminal implications. That’s why we take any allegations or evidence of nursing home neglect seriously. Criminal charges that stem from investigations of law enforcement, the facility, or our own will not preclude you from bringing a civil suit against the nursing home that was responsible for your loved one’s neglect. Civil and criminal cases are separate matters.

How To Pursue Compensation to Help Your Family?

senior in nursing home being helped by nurseThe amount and type of compensation awarded for a nursing home abuse case may depend on factors such as the extent of the victim’s injuries, the duration of the abuse, whether other cases may be bundled and class-action certified, and other economic and non-economic factors that vary between victims.

Victims who suffer serious physical or psychological injuries or encounter any life-altering event as a result of neglect or abuse may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Punitive damages are often greater than other damages and are designed to send a message to operators and other facilities that abuse and neglect will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.

The statute of limitations in nursing home abuse and neglect case is two years from the date the incident took place. Should your neglected loved one succumb to their injuries, the statute of limitations becomes two years from the date of injury.

Visit Our Nursing Home Abuse Law Offices

 

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Our Georgia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Take Elder Abuse and Neglect Seriously

We have successfully recovered millions in damages for clients in nursing home abuse and neglect cases, and we are poised to take your case to trial if necessary. Many cases with compelling evidence will settle prior to trial. The exact settlement amount will depend on the details of the case.

Don’t let your loved one suffer in silence if he or she was harmed as a nursing home resident. Our team will review your nursing home abuse case free of charge, and you won’t have to pay us anything until we recover compensation for your loved one.

Look through our verdicts and settlements, testimonials, and blog posts to see what we’ve done for other injured persons. Our firm wants nothing more than to make your loved one whole, especially when they’ve been abused or neglected by the very facility you trusted to care for them.

If your loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse or nursing home negligence, contact the experienced lawyers of Sherrod & Bernard, P.C., by phone or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation. Together we’ll put an end to the unacceptable treatment your loved one and likely others have been forced to endure at the hands of negligent nursing home facility staff, management and owners.